Powerful women: with or without children for career advancement?

CAREER WOMEN WITHOUT CHILDREN –

The group photo is striking. On the cover of the British magazine New Statesman, four women , among the most influential in the world, stand side by side, all sharing the same fate: very powerful, but childless . The image includes Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister; Liz Kendall, the likely leader of the British Labour Party; Theresa May, British Home Secretary; and, above all, Angela Merkel, who has been immortalized as the most powerful woman in the world for nine years. The newspaper seizes upon the photograph to denounce the "motherhood trap," the still-existing, yet no less unjust, law that forces women to choose between a career and motherhood.

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THE MOTHERHOOD TRAP –

But is this conflict really so pressing? And are we really sure that a woman is incapable of reaching the top without giving up her natural vocation as a mother? First of all, the equation "childless leader" is contradicted by one fact : Forbes magazine , which annually publishes a ranking of the one hundred most influential women in the world, found for 2015 that over 80 percent of them actually have a family with children . And the percentage is rising. And even in non-fiction, a reading of the phenomenon is gaining ground as being linked more to very intimate life choices than to the incompatibility between career and children. In the book "Why We Didn't Have Children ," written by psychotherapist Paola Leonardi, who interviewed 13 women in power, another side of the truth emerges. Rita Levi Montalcini, for example, confesses that throughout her life she has considered the scientific community as her family, and the results of research as a form of procreation. Emma Bonino, undoubtedly the world's best-known Italian politician, said, "I don't have children because I can't say 'forever,' and a child demands it." Long live sincerity. Even Condoleezza Rice, the seductive and authoritative Secretary of State during the Bush administration, acknowledged her choice as a natural existential choice. "I don't have children, but the important thing is to appreciate what life has given you," she said.

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WOMEN IN CAREER IN ITALY –

In Italy, then, the phenomenon we are witnessing is the rise of women's centrality, not only within the circles of power, but also in the family economy and in each family's sources of income. We have more women in Parliament, in government, and in local administrations. We see women with children at the top of Confindustria (the Italian employers' federation) and trade unions, and gone are the days when, according to an Adecco survey, three out of four women said they were willing to give up motherhood for a career. Rather, working women today support, with their earnings, one in eight families. They number 2,428,000, compared to 1,731,000 just seven years ago . Almost half. This means that the Great Depression, with its catastrophic effects on the economic stability of families, was weathered precisely thanks to the crucial contribution of women. They were also ready to fill in for their husbands, where they were left without work.

WOMEN'S SUPPORT POLICIES –

Rather, the issue has shifted. With life expectancy increasing , which means an exponential increase in the number of elderly people requiring care, especially through family support, and with 46,6 percent of Italians between the ages of 25 and 34 still living at home with their parents, women risk being increasingly overwhelmed by their sandwich role , juggling work—essential for keeping the family going—and the dual commitments of husbands, children, and long-lived parents . Here , a policy that supports women becomes essential , not so much in terms of discrimination at work, but rather in terms of easing responsibilities. While resources are being sought to lower taxes and social spending is struggling to improve, there is only one welfare system, from the bottom up, that is recognizing and addressing the problems of sandwich women . It's the welfare state of companies that open daycare centers for their employees' children, allow telecommuting for those with dependent parents, and facilitate a series of seemingly light tasks that, when seen as daily commitments, can become very tiring, such as grocery shopping or taking children to school. Finally, to truly improve their position and avoid feeling trapped in the "motherhood trap" denounced on the cover of the New Statesman , women need men. And their active collaboration . This is an area in which, for the moment, we can only report good news. Working fathers dedicate an average of 35 minutes of time to their children every day. It may still seem like a small amount, but forty years ago it was just 5 minutes. So, we are improving our ability to shoulder family burdens, and this too will help women be powerful, even with children.

TO KNOW MORE: Fathers back in the family and women less alone with their children